Democrats in Legislature pick apart Guinn's education budget

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn proposes to increase aid to public schools by $130 million over the next two years, but his budget still slashes or eliminates some educational programs, including one to put computers in the classrooms.

As legislators started digging into the details of the 1999-2001 budget unveiled Monday, Democrats found themselves in the unaccustomed role of critic. They clashed with administration officials over cuts in education proposed by Guinn, the first Republican governor in 16 years.

Two years ago as part of Gov. Bob Miller's plan to improve schools, $27 million was budgeted to launch a multiyear plan to put a computer in every classroom. Another $8.6 million was approved for training, repair, and maintenance of the computers.

There's no money this year to continue the purchases.

Guinn has also eliminated the $2 million-a-year "School to Careers" program started in 1995; and the budget for proficiency testing for students has been slashed 74 percent, from $4.4 million a year to $1.1 million. Other school improvement programs were cut 93 percent from $7.6 million a year to $522,947.

Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, led the criticism in the first of many meetings of the legislative budget committees as they consider the governor's spending program before drafting the budget that the Legislature will consider.

"This cuts education from the previous budget," he told Deputy Budget Director Don Hataway, referring to a study done by legislative money experts.

"I don't consider this a cut," Hataway countered, saying the governor proposes $130 million more for schools in this budget. "It's an increase."

School aid is receiving a bigger share of the state's budget than any time in the last 10 years, Guinn officials say.

Hataway said the governor has put aside $13 million to help schools where students are not measuring up to standard. That's up from the $3 million of two years ago, which Hataway called "wholly lacking."

Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said a number of things are not clearly explained in the education budget.

In addition, the Guinn budget includes a formula change that will mean a loss of $2.9 million to the Clark County School District. Walt Rulffes, chief financial officer of the district, told the budget committees he would "vigorously oppose" the plan.

Any change if it is approved, Rulffes said, should be phased in and not take place immediately.

The state currently sends so much per student to each school district. The statewide average is $3,812 per student per year. Other funds, such as for class-size reduction, are not included in that formula, called the distributive school fund.

Guinn's budget proposed to lump those other funds into the distributive school fund.

Hataway argued that the new formula would improve the state's national ranking in school support. It would "show the true numbers" of Nevada's support for public education, he said.

Last year Education Week ranked Nevada 39th in the amount of money it spends per student.

Hataway conceded Nevada will "still be less than the average of other states," even with the budgeting change.

But, said Goldwater, Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, and Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, the plan could also allow districts to use money from the special funds any way they choose, undermining the intended purposes.

"I hope this will not turn into the death knell" for a variety of programs that now receive separate funding, said Giunchigliani, a special education teacher in Clark County.

Hataway assured the lawmakers the districts would still have to follow the law in meeting requirements under such programs as class-size reduction and services for handicapped children, even if the funds were combined into a single budget category.

Guinn's budget has provided enough money to keep up with enrollment growth and the class-size reduction program, he said.

Educators are worried, however, there won't be enough to continue the drive for higher academic standards for students.

"The governor's budget does not give me the resources I have to have to continue to make improvements," Mark Shellinger, the superintendent of the White Pine County School District, told the committees. He said there was only a 2 percent increase in state funding, and that's not enough to cover the merit increases earned by teachers.

Teachers in White Pine County, he said, have "bent over backwards" in helping boost student achievement in the last few years. "The test scores are up. They need an increase." Shellinger noted that his district has the lowest pay scale in the state.

Guinn's budget does not include money for cost-of-living increases for teachers, university faculty or state workers.

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